Private funding of research and selling the results is a great idea. There is a strong undercurrent in the scientific community against this, to say the least. Yet private researchers are generally much more productive than their government counterparts. For a great example of government vs. private science, check out these two articles: "Government and the Genome" and "Government's Genetic Failure".

The private company Celera "shared" the credit with the useless government genome project under threat of having their results stripped from them "for the public good."

Making hard-won privately-funded research results public property is a favorite technique of the socialists. Right now efforts are also under way by various government agencies to force Microsoft to publish its source codes. During the anthrax panic, trashing drug patents in an emergency was considered a viable concept. Although this may be a way to save lives, no one discussed reparations for a damaged company. Drug companies are among the most visible private researchers, spending billions on pure research, only some of which has useful results. Then they have to spend billions again with the government to be allowed to sell the drug. By the time the drug is first on the market, the company is deep in the hole, and the drugs are expensive. Yet, they still keep going, to our benefit.

The somewhat predatory attitude by government toward private research may be one reason why it's hard to get investment in this kind of thing in other areas besides pharmaceuticals. Never mind that investing in pure research is already risky. If the state can simply abscond with your work if it's valuable enough, the risk probably becomes too high for some people.